Watarase Keikoku Railway First Kanbai Tunnel

The Longest of the Kanbai Tunnels

The Watarase Keikoku Railway First Kanbai Tunnel (わたらせ渓谷鐵道第一神梅トンネル) is a single-track brick and stone tunnel built in 1912 at Omama-cho, Midori City, Gunma Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 2, 2009 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records brick and stone, 166 metres long, with retaining walls, registration number 10-0299.

The Ashio Copper Railway

According to Watarase Keikoku Railway, the Ashio copper mine, bought by Furukawa Ichibei in 1877, grew to produce half of Japan's copper, more than horses and a horse tramway could carry, so a railway was built from Kiryu to Ashio. The Ashio Railway opened to Omama in 1911, reached Ashio in December 1912 and was completed to Ashio Honzan in 1914. Nationalised in 1918 as the Ashio Line, it has been run by Watarase Keikoku Railway since 1989.

The Watarase Keikoku Railway First Kanbai Tunnel lies about 240 metres south-east of the Second Kanbai Tunnel (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Watarase Keikoku Railway First Kanbai Tunnel was registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that with the Second and Third Kanbai Tunnels, built in close succession, it forms part of the gorge's historic landscape.

What to Look For

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a 166-metre single-track bore with horseshoe portals four bricks thick; the arch lining is brick, and the lower walls combine brick with dressed stone.

Watarase Keikoku Railway's pamphlet notes that the brickwork of the Watarase Keikoku Railway First Kanbai Tunnel has been sprayed with mortar several times for strength, and three refuges were added in 1974. The horseshoe shape common to these tunnels resists the pressure of the surrounding rock.

Visiting

On a Mato-bound train the Watarase Keikoku Railway First Kanbai Tunnel follows the Teburiyama Flume, about three and a half minutes after Omama Station; the run to the Third Kanbai Tunnel takes about a minute (Watarase Keikoku Railway). Watarase Keikoku Railway notes that all of its registered structures can be seen from the train.

Do not enter the tracks; view it from the train, the station or nearby roads. It is located at Kirihara, Omama-cho, Midori City, Gunma Prefecture. Of the line's 38 registered structures, the 26 in Gunma and 11 in Tochigi are gathered on the group pages Watarase Keikoku Railway (Gunma Section) and Watarase Keikoku Railway (Tochigi Section).